Water is considered a renewable resource, however, pressures on the resource are growing with increased demands on usage. As the readily available supplies of fresh water are being used up, the importance of water conservation increases. Efforts to conserve water have extended to domestic household use, with much of the focus being on greywater which currently contributes 75% of total wastewater flow to domestic sewers.
Greywater recycling is one method of water conservation. Greywater is waste water that has the potential for reuse. To be considered greywater there must be no human/organic waste (feces) or toxic chemicals. Such sources would include water from normal sink use and shower/bathtub use, or at times used wash water from clothes or dish washing units. This partially used water can be recycled for irrigation or used to flush toilets. With partial filtration, or even with no treatment, greywater can be a valuable and reusable resource.
Various systems have been developed for recycling domestic greywater. U.S. Pat. No. 7,913,331 describes an integrated system for collecting and diverting rainwater and greywater for toilet flushing. The described system requires retrofitting of existing plumbing infrastructure and/or fixtures in order to integrate the system into the existing plumbing system of a home and further comprises numerous large and complicated components for its operation. In one example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,913,331 describes a portable and easy to install version of the system, however, even this version requires retrofitting of the existing plumbing system and/or sanitary fixtures in order to be operational.
There continues to be a need for methods and systems for recycling greywater that do not require complicated and expensive retrofitting of the existing plumbing system and that are adaptable for use with greywater utility systems currently available on the market.
This background information is provided for the purpose of making known information believed by the applicant to be of possible relevance to the present invention. No admission is necessarily intended, nor should be construed, that any of the preceding information constitutes prior art against the present invention.